2012-07-16 Ponds, Puppies, and Pepper
The day is bright and cheery with a bright almost impossibly blue sky and large cotton fluff white clouds. Central Park is serene and peaceful, and ducks waddle about the lake shore. Sitting among them, watching them waddle, listening to them quack, and quacking back is a very large blonde man. His tshirt is stretched tight over his shoulders and upper arms, his demin blue jeans have a hole in one knee, and his long blonde hair is tied back in a loose tail at the nap of his neck. Quack, sayeth the dressed down Storm Lord whose hammer rests upon the grass near his right hip; Quack! Pepper Potts is walking through Central Park on said gorgeous day, taking advantage of a hopefully quiet Sunday. She's even NOT wearing a business-ey outfit. She's wearing normal jeans and a tshirt. Marissa Sometimes has fallen in next to Pepper. "I'm thinking that I may need to get a roommate. Everything here is so expensive." After Arizona, Manhattan prices are serious sticker shock. She's wearing jeans and a t-shirt herself, rather matching her older companion. "Umm. That guy's trying to talk duck." Yes, indeed. It appears the blonde is trying to talk to the ducks. Quack. Quack? Quack... And chuckling. The man is also chuckling softly, trying to pet them, but they waddle out of the way just before he can touch them. Ducks are fun. Pepper Potts looks over at the man and blinks. "That's ... different." She detours to make sure the man is okay, 'cause that's how she is. "Um, excuse me? Is everything okay?" She seems to have not taken into account the ducks themselves, or the smallish bag of leftovers in her hand. The ducks have, though, and they all CONVERGE on her in the hopes of getting a taste of those leftovers, and as soon as Pepper realizes it, she's trying to back away from them, drawing them away from the quacking man. Marissa Sometimes laughs. "They like you, Pepper." It's good that she's relaxed enough, now, to laugh. The poor quacking man...upstaged by food. Of course, really, they're ducks. What else are they going to go for? The young woman regards Thor for a moment, but, of course, she's not suspecting him of superheroic tendencies. (Her T-shirt, by the way, reads 'Be Yourself'). As the ducks converge on the red-head, Thor turns. "Aye, I am quite well, my thanks to thee for-" He too notes how the ducks flock about Pepper and her lunch, and how she backs away. "Are thee well? Doth mine feathered friends frighten thee," he asks her starting to push himself to his feet with an easy grace. Mjolnir rests in the grass, unmoving. Pepper Potts stops and holds the bag up higher above the reach of the ducks. "I... think they smell my leftover salad." She looks at the SWARM of birds starting to squawk and flap and reach up for the bag in her hands, and it's starting to get a little disconcerting. "Maybe...we need a way to distract them? Or they'll steal your salad." Marissa eyes the ducks. Unfortunately, she doesn't have one iota of a clue how to do so. They're ducks. They go for food. She doesn't have any. On his feet, Thor steps forward, offering in his deep and slightly booming voice, "Shall I assist thee in seeing these ducks scattered?" Because he's helpful. Pepper Potts looks at the man ... tall ... and nods. "Um, yes, please. They're getting a bit insistent." One duck even hops and snaps at the bag, causing her to startle and flinch. Marissa Sometimes makes vague shooing noises duck-wards. And gestures. None of which are particularly effective. "Please. I apparently don't know how to shoo ducks." By the duck pond in Central Park stand Pepper Potts, rocking tshirt and jeans, Marissa Sometimes, also in something casual?, and Thor, dressed completely like a normal 21st century boy in a bit of a too tight tshirt and a pair of blue jeans with a hole in the knee. A gaggle of ducks have surrounding Pepper, and one has made a leap for her left overs. As the ladies ask for his assistance, the tall blonde gives a half bow, and reaches off to the side and behind him with his right hand. In an instant, the hammer -- having been laying in the grass some ten feet closer to the pond's shore than he stands -- suddenly flings itself into Thor's hand. His fingers wrap about the hilt, his eyes flash an electric blue, the sky darkens suddenly, and a single near deafening crack of thunder rings through the air. Needless to say, the ducks scatter. Some lift into the air, some run for it, several run into each other and the three standing near by in their haste to flee. A single feather drifts before Pepper as the clouds clear as quickly as they came. Thor smiles, a touch proudly. "Scattered," Thor says simply, a faint nod of his head being given. He's a helper. Oh and scattered indeed the ducks are. Many of them fly away quickly, while others take to the sky in an attempt to get up and over the duck pond. Aside from the god of thunder manipulating the electricity content in the air, Central Park is a mostly serene place. Then again, so was Afghanistan two million years ago... --BLIP!-- The sky fifty feet above the pond erupts in a sudden display of gunfire and fury. A red and black costumed mercenary with two swords strapped to his back is helplessly trying to spray two Uzi submachine guns at a smaller figure that's riding on his chest. Upon his chest is a being that at first glance looks like a 10 year old child in a three-piece suit. Only it's not a child. It's a monkey. A monkey with four pistols, which are currently riddling Deadpool's body with bullets. As gravity will, the two of them suddenly plummet towards the pond, and whatever brave ducks have been left behind are now surely scattering at the sound of semi-automatic and fully automatic gunfire. "Ow ow ow ow ow! Why'dja OH MY OW! STOP I--!" "EEEEEEEEK!" --SPLAAAAASH!--- Pepper Potts looks at the man a bit oddly, but then gasps in surprise when a thunderclap makes the birds scatter and briefly batter her with their webbed feet and wings. She drops her bag of leftovers and throws her hands up over her face, then lowers her hands to look at Thor wide-eyed just in time for even MORE chaos to suddenly drop in on them. Literally. As Deadpool and gun-monkey fall out of the sky, Marissa moves to position herself between that and Pepper. Then she recognizes both voice and uniform. Oh no. "You!" bursts out from her before she can stop herself. Oh, crap. The creepazoid. Being shot up. It doesn't seem to be bothering him as much as it should and she can hazard a guess as to why. Honestly, she's more concerned with making sure any stray bullets hit her, mutant not Pepper, human. Unphased by the ducks, it is the gunfire and the voice that draws Thor's attention. Eyes wide, he too moves to put himself between the falling Deadpool and the two ladies. Mjolnir is brought to the ready. He hears Marissa call out, and so asks over his shoulder, "Does thou know this falling man?" Deadpool surfaces first from the water, gasping for air through his mask. Though he somehow has managed to survive the ten or twelve gunshots he's just taken, his red and black suit seems to have been ran through a blender. It's hanging off of him in tatters, revealing fabulously muscular skin that is littered with old scars and bulletwounds. He turns the uzis to the pond, emptying the clips around him in a careless attempt to kill ANYTHING within a ten foot radius beneath the pond's surface. "Come here you little fuzz-bucket! Get some! I'm gonna make you wish you were raised in the Jackson Five when I'm done with you." He stops, sensing no movement beneath the water. He turns to see Thor, Pepper, and Marissa on the waters edge. "Melissa!" He waves his uzi, barrel up, in a friendly gesture. "Don't mind me here folks just a little of the ole wet wor--" Deadpool doesn't see the monkey rising out of the water behind him. Slowly, the monkey glares evilly at Deadpool's back as the water streams off of his fur. He leaps up and onto Deadpool's back, the opposable thumbs on its feet clinging to Deadpool's bandoliers at it starts shooting Deadpool in the back. Blood flies everywhere. "GET IT OFF ME GET IT OFF ME!" Deadpool twists and thrashes, splashing water all over the place. World-reknowned merc or not, Deadpool seems to be losing this fight. Pepper Potts is so startled by the man and the monkey falling into the pond that she doesn't protest BOTH Marissa and the blonde man wielding hammer stepping between her and the just-arrived chaos. "What in the world?" "Hello. I'm not going out with you," Marissa informs Deadpool. A beat. "But we probably should get the monkey off of you before anyone gets hurt." Deadpool, apparently, doesn't count as anyone. Of course, now Thor has been a gentleman and stepped between them. Marissa scowls at the Thunder God's rear before trying to step around him. Yes, Pepper, the girl you've been trying to protect knows this crazy. Sort of. Thor turns to give Marissa an odd look at the girl tries to step in front of him. He shakes his head lightly, and sidesteps from her. "Keep thy distance, mortal," he says softly to Marissa, stormy blue-gray eyes focusing on the monkey. He hefts the hammer, calling out, "Refrain from moving, red and black clothed man!" The clouds gather once more and Thor summons a single blue-white lightning bolt to Mjolnir, but he hesitates in flinging it toward the naughty monkey. His worry is clearly seen on his face: Water, Lightning, Mortals... These things doth not well mix! Deadpool is screaming, calling out in protest, and cursing up a storm while the evil, fashionably minded monkey is firing bullets into his back. Doing everything he can to avoid a headshot, the merc-with-a-mouth drops his uzis and goes for the swords. Like a blender in the water, he starts spinning and wildly slicing with his blades to try to turn the monkey into monkey-bites. "I know this is...AAAAAGH! Vaguely! George Michael song! Hiiiii-ya!" Deadpool grunts, catching HitMonkey in the side of the ribs with the flat of his blade. "Why can't you do it! Why can't you SET your Moonkey FREE!?!?" The monkey clings to Deadpool's arm, firing another three shots into the merc's chest. Refusing to let go, it turns its head and in slow motion gives Thor, Marissa, and Pepper the most sweet, pitiful, pleading look. Why, it's probably a completely innocent monkey in a three-piece suit with custom SWAT design Kimber 45 caliber pistols. Look at how cute it is while it uses its feet to reload! "Oh don't you dare you little bastar--Melissa! He's a bad guy don't trust him!" Deadpool pleads, unable to stay stationary. Thor might just have to blow everyone up. Pepper Potts looks toward the odd man in the pond from behind Marissa, then rubs at her forehead with one hand. This day started out so well... Okay. She can't get around the big and over-protective guy with the hammer. And he isn't doing anything either. "Umm..." Lightning...would fry Deadpool too, although she's not sure he'd actually care. "He can take a lot," she offers. "That thing's put *how* many bullets into him already?" Ow. She doesn't want to think about what it must feel like. A glance given to Marissa, before the Thunder God nods once. Eyes crackling dangerously again, Thor pulls his arm back and flings that stored lightning bolt at the monkey. If it zots you too hard, it was HER fault. The monkey seems to know what's coming. When Thor's eyes crackle, the monkey climbs down Deadpool's body to his waist and grabs at something. "Wh-- No wait! Thor don't!" Deadpool suddenly panics, sheathing one of the swords to free a hand. --BLIP!-- Hit Monkey disappears in a flash of red light. Deadpool's teleportation disc has been STOLEN. Deadpool has a moment to collect his thoughts. He thinks of microwaved burritos. ---KRA-K-K-K-KOOM!!!!!--- When the dust settles, Deadpool is lying on his back, staring at the sky in the center of the duck pond. Surrounding him are dozens of dead fish, popping up like consolation prizes. "That...lousy...monkey...f@#$@!" Deadpool groans, choosing to not move for the moment. Pepper Potts flinches in startlement at the sheer NOISE of the lightning bolt hitting the man in the pond. "Holy... What did you just DO?" "Dang it...the monkey got away." Marissa actually sounds annoyed. No, she doesn't go to check on Deadpool. He's alive, and if she's right in her guess likely to stay that way. But she also got the impression JUST how important the teleport disc is to Deadpool. Great. He's a bad guy. She shouldn't help him. He's a creep, so she shouldn't *want* to help him. Thor eyes Deadpool, and the now dead fish with a dark frown. With a soft grump, the Thunder God mutters, "The creature doth remind of mine brother." Drawing a breath, Thor turns to the ladies now, ignoring the floating Deadpool. "I have done as asked, and attempted to smite the bothersome creature. It is sad, however, that said beast doth move quickly, for it is gone," Thor says. Deadpool's scarred chest rises and falls as he stares at the sky. After a few moments, he rights himself and kneels in the water. Fishing around, he comes up with his uzi submachine guns. Shaking some of the water out of them, he wades back towards the beach near Thor, Marissa, and Pepper Potts. He glances back to the water and gingerly steps back over. Plucking a fish out of the water, he then steps over to them. "Uhm...excuse me? Patricia?" He asks sweetly. "Do you uh, know where I can find a bus?" He looks to Pepper and Thor, giving them a little wave. "Hi. Patricia and I are buds." Pepper Potts looks at the red and black ... kind-of-clad man with an expression of 'what on earth have I just witnessed?'. She waves back at the man slowly and can't help but ask, "Who is Patricia?" Marissa makes shushing noises at Pepper, not wanting Deadpool to realize her name is NOT Patricia, because then he might work out what it is, and he's a creepazoid. "That way!" she points, rather hoping Deadpool will now go trudging across the park. And she waits on asking Thor who he is, too. No giving any information to the creepy stalker guy who is creepy and stalker-y. Thor stands there, frowning and eyeing the destruction in the lake he has caused at the behest of this odd person in black and red. So, with no questions past his way, and the few questions spoken already being given what must be there exact answers for Thor's not altogether certain what a bus even IS, the Storm Lord just stands there, silently. Looking to the three of them, Deadpool's eyeless mask scans their faces. Dazed and confused, Marissa's emphatic pointing spurs him into motion. He offers the three of them, even Thor, a slight bow. "Ladies." Sweaty and smelling of burnt ozone and pond-water, he steps past the three of them on his way towards the edge of the park that Marissa directed him to. "Sorry, Thor, it's the hair." That's almost more creepy and stalker-y. Marissa considers, for a moment, hiding behind Thor altogether. She'd fit. Instead, she opts for just saying nothing until Deadpool's out of earshot. Absolutely nothing. She looks an odd mix of irritated and utterly bemused. Pepper Potts notices Marissa's behavior and lets the man leave against her own judgement. Instead, she gives Marissa a hard look, one that clearly states she will be wanting an explanation (and it better be a good one) as soon as the girl is willing to offer it. Thor likewise does not offer anything more than merely an odd look and a nod to Deadpool. Confused god is confused. He clips his hammer to his belt and stoops to collect the fallen salad before those ducks come back. Marissa Sometimes looks...embarrassed. Definitely embarrassed. And more than a little upset against that gaze. Then. "Thor? You're really a god?" Pepper will get her explanation, but right now Marissa's curious about Goldilocks. Straightening from rescuing the dropped salad, Thor offers the bag to Pepper, blue-gray eyes on Marissa. He nods his head gently, brows slightly knitted together. "Aye, fair Patricia. I am Thor Odinson, known as Donar the Mighty and Wielder of Mjolnir. I am the Child of Jord, Son of Frigga, the Scion and Prince of Asgard; called the Lord of Storms, God of Thunder, and Bringer of Lightning; the Protector of Midgard," Thor says, voice edging toward that mighty booming once more, giving a slight bow at the waist as he speaks his names and titles. Pepper Potts takes her dropped bag from the tall man with a faint smile of thanks, then looks baffled at his calling Marissa 'Patricia'. Her confused expression just becomes more pronounced the more he speaks. "That's quite a mouthful." She looks at the young lady and asks, "Why is everyone calling you Patricia all of a sudden?" Unspoken but implied is the additional question 'Is there something I should know?'. Marissa sighs. "It's Marissa, not Patricia. That creepazoid misheard it and I didn't want to correct him because I don't want him somehow *finding* me. Well, either he misheard or he's lousy at names. Sorry about that." She studies Thor for a moment. "Mouthful of titles there. Umm, what would you rather be called?" Thor is quick to drop into a full formal bow as Marissa corrects the name he used for her. "My deepest apologies then, Marissa. I shalt refrain from miscalling thee again," Thor says before he straightens up to his full heaight once more. "Any of those names or titles are quite acceptible to me for thy use in addressing me, though oft I am merely called Thor." Pepper Potts now realizes that this man actually believes everything he just said. "Wait. The Norse diety Thor? I thought that was mythology." "I'm not going to call the guy a liar to his face." Maybe the Norse gods were just really powerful metahumans, or even mutants. Which this guy certainly is. She's skeptical about actual godhood, of course. She was raised to believe there was only one God, and the others all either non-existent or demons. But Marissa knows much of what she was taught was wrong. So, skeptical, but not dismissive. "Aye, flame-hair, the same," Thor replies, though a soft frown at the word liar is given. "I am not my brother, Marissa. however, I quite understand that the knowledge of me and mine are now but myth and legend to the peoples of mine fair Midgard." He turns back to Pepper, and seems to wait for something. Pepper Potts blinks at being called flame-hair, but has enough self-control to not be visibly taken aback by it. According to various interpreters, officials from various foreign countries have called her far worse. "I see. An honor to meet you, Your Highness. I'm Virginia Potts, but everyone calls me Pepper." Once more bowing, Thor is far more formal in doing so as Pepper calls him 'highness'. "Likeiwse, and honor and a pleasure, my Lady Potts," he replies before straightening. "Am I likewise allowed to use thine name of Pepper?" Pepper Potts looks a bit bemused by Thor's sudden turn of VERY formal phrasing. "Of course you may. I'm not in the habit of carrying a double standard." The response has Thor smiling broadly and once more half-bowing. Though this time, the motion comes with his right hand covering over his heart. "Excellent," he booms slightly, the smile warm, friendly, almost boyish in its bright gayety. "Then, good lady Pepper, thou art well met!" Pepper Potts smiles. "Yes, well met. So...what brings you back to Midgard after so much time?" "Mine fair Earth did summon me, request my presence," Thor stated with broad strokes of tone, only for the tamber of his speech to seem to fall a touch flat in the silence that follows. Pepper Potts considers that while taking a step sideways toward a nearby park bench, so they can sit to keep talking. "What kind of summon? And was it the people that summoned you, or the planet itself?" Thor follows smoothly, almost offering Pepper an arm. Her question draws a distant sort of gaze from the Asgardian, and he waits for Pepper to sit before he sits himself. "The realm, Midgard, that which is mine Mother, Jord's, domain doth summon me. Midgard... calls me, pulls me whever She has need of me." Pepper Potts's eyebrows furrow together slightly as she mentally tries to parse what Thor just said. Deciding to break his words down a section at a time, she says, "The realm. Is that just this island of Manhattan, or is it the entire continent of America, or is it the entire planet?" It's Thor's turn to mentally chug through Pepper's question. his lips pull down in a light frown as he ponders. Finally, many seconds later, Thor replies. "Tis.. all of Midgard. From this very bench, to the clouds high above, to the shore near to us, to the one far toward's the sun-set. Mine protection doth also extend toward the skylights to the north, where snow and winds doth howl, and the same to the south. From desert to mountain, to all that dwelleth upon Her breast." Pepper Potts thinks about that for a moment, then nods. "So the entire planet, then. How did the plan... did Midgard summon you? Was is a specific message?" Thor chuckles faintly. "Truly, Pepper, do I say unto you that at time's Midgard's summons doth feel as a bilgesnipe stampede; there is little reason, merely the need to GO." Pepper Potts WANTS to ask what a bilgesnipe is, but suspects that that would derail the conversation. So instead she accepts that as is and simply nods. She opens her mouth to ask something else, and is interrupted by a little electronic blip from her shoulder bag. She reaches in and pulls out her ever-present tablet computer and opens an email with a few quick taps on the screen. She looks at the email -- one of those 'forward this!' ones with a slew of cute puppy photos attached -- and sighs. Leave it to her mother to send random emails at any given time of day. Thor's eyes seek out that sound, even as he murmurs about an odd bird. Spotting the tablet, Thor leans forward to peer at it curiously, and marvels at the flashing display and the ease with which Pepper wields the magical device. It's when the pictures of the puppies appear that the Asgardian Prince, the God of Thunder, grins like a school boy and points at the tablet. "Puppies," Thor seems to all but coo, face an innocent as a cherub. Pepper Potts blinks at Thor, then smiles and nods. "Yes. My mother loves sending me these emails with piles of attachments. I don't have the heart to tell her they're ... distracting." Emails.... attachments.... Thor blinks at these words, one long slow confused blink at each one. Because attachment was not used as he is familiar with. So, blue-gray eyes lifting from the PUPPIES! to Pepper, Thor quirks a brow confusedly, and blinks again. The seconds of confusion drag by before he finally manages: "Thine mother doth send you... puppies?" Emails.... attachments.... Thor blinks at these words, one long slow confused blink at each one. Because attachment was not used as he is familiar with. So, blue-gray eyes lifting from the PUPPIES! to Pepper, Thor quirks a brow confusedly, and blinks again. The seconds of confusion drag by before he finally manages: "Thine mother doth send you... puppies?" "Aaah... Yes. Image," Thor mimics, eyes falling back to the screen. His smile lasts a few more moments before it slides to a frown. "Are they akin to illusions; things of trickery?" He seems faintly troubled by this, it seems, as he looks back to Pepper. Pepper Potts considers. "Hmm, no. More like ... depictions of the puppies. Kind of like..." She taps at the tablet quickly again, the puppy photos disappearing to be replaced by a web browser search window, and then an image of the ancient image of THor's Hammer. "...this. These are images of items called 'Thor's Hammer'." ((http://www.goodsearch.com/searchimage.aspx?keywords=thor's+hammer+ancient)) Wonder and awe crosses the prince's face as he peers at the small bits of jewelry and a replica of Mjolnir. Enthralled by the images, Thor reaches out gingerly to the pictures. "These... these are what the mortal's recall of mine hammer, Mjolnir? These amulets of such delicate beauty..?" Pepper Potts smiles at the clear awe in the man's voice, allowing him to touch the screen which causes the image he was pointing at to follow the link it leads to. "Yes. A very memorable icon from the last time you were here." The sudden shift of images, from eight little photos of Thor Amulets to a sudden purple website with a moon and some witch boots, startles the god. He jumps a bit in the bench next to Pepper, eyes growing wide. A frown appears in an instant. "Where did yon little pictures go," he asks. There's a slight childish pout to his voice. Pepper Potts ohs. "The way this device works, the images are like signposts to different words and images. This one led someplace that didn't have what we were hoping to find." She points to the browser's back arrow but doesn't touch it. "This will lead back to the image signposts." The frown remains, but as Pepper points but does not touch, he reaches out to touch that little arrow; the teiwaz rune used for the /t/ sound appearing to have fallen to the side. When the little images reappear, Thor smiles and puts his hand back into his lap to peer at the images again. "If you want to try to follow a different signpost..." Pepper touches on one of the other images. "You can see what other options there are." Of course, she's mildly annoyed when the next link isn't any better than the last. Thor's lips purse faintly as he peers at the new website, nothing interesting or appealling found there. So, he shakes his head lightly at it, the wonder dispelled. Pepper Potts says, “Sorry. It's not always as enlightening as one would hope. She does, though, know what the words mean, and how to bypass the lame link result. She taps on one of the links on the result page. "Is this better?” ((http://www.flickr.com/photos/mararie/6715386419/)) Thor pears att he tablet again, peering at the amulets only to stop and gasp faintly. "Sleipnir," breaths the Odinson, hand reaching back toward the tablet. Pepper Potts blinks and looks at the amulets in the image. "Sorry?" But before Thor can explain, her tablet blips again and she sees the little pop-up box announcing another email message. "Let me check this, it's another message from my mother." A few quick taps, and another email has a link in it. The subject line, though, tells her it'll likely be something Thor will enjoy seeing. "She's sent me another puppy image, but this one is a moving image. A video." She taps on the link. ((http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZht--MW2D0)) Distracted from the amulet of his father and his horse, Thor waits patiently for the the new images to flicker across the screen. Wonder once more drifts to the forefront, eyes growing wide as he watches the video. He's wanting to reach out and touch the moving pcitures as they flicker acorss the screen, only for his hand to pause as he watches the small fuzzy beagle puppy mercilessly attacking a full grown rottweiler. The reaction is small to start with: a light smile. But the first time the beagle pup bodily charges the rottweiler's head only to bounce off and tumble away, the giggles begin. They continue when the pup runs OVER the rottweiler's head, and end with Thor just engrossed in the video, leaning forward and making little fists to almost silently cheer hte puppy on. "The pup has a warrior's heart!" Pepper Potts chuckles softly at that. "I would have to agree." She notices the time on her tablet screen. "I need to be going though. It has been a true pleasure speaking with you." A few taps and the table is once just an inert-looking piece of plastic and glass that goes back into her bag. Pepper Potts accepts Thor's help standing, even though she is entirely capable of doing so without aid. She can tell he's just old school that way. "I do. My driver is waiting for us just over there." She indicates, where one of the many Stark-owned Bentleys is waiting. Thor looks over, spying the 'carriage', then nods. "I shall walk thee," he declares firmly, walking with Pepper toward the car. It's clear that once he has seen her safely there, the THunder God will take his leave and fly away. Pepper Potts walks toward the Bentley, okay with Thor escorting. That old school thing again. "Oh, I meant to ask earlier. Why WERE you quacking at those ducks?" Category:Logs Category:RPLogs